Hamilton-Wenham drops heartbreaker to North Reading in Div. 3 North title game

Saturday

Jun 7, 2014 at 10:56 PMJun 9, 2014 at 9:40 PM

By Joe McConnelljmcconnell@wickedlocal.com

The North Reading Hornets (20-4, second seed), behind a Ryan Sanborn grand slam in the fourth, were able to hang on to defeat a feisty Hamilton-Wenham squad (16-8, eighth seed), 8-7 in the Division 3 North title game at Lowell’s LeLacheur Park, 8-7 June 7.Two teams that are quite familiar with each other as Cape Ann League rivals — the Generals won the first meeting this year in April, 4-0, and then lost in extra inning (eight) in May, 4-3 — turned in a memorable postseason show that was in doubt until the final out. The Hornets won the decisive third game between the schools with another close encounter.Trailing 8-3 in the sixth, the Generals scored four times to narrow the deficit to just one, culminating with Brett Harring’s clutch two-run single.The Generals scored once in the top half of the first, but the Hornets came back with two in the home half in an inning that lasted close to 45 minutes that included five walks, which added to the intrigue.Hamilton-Wenham was in the attack mode from the start, not wanting to hold anything back, when Ian Dickey led off the game with a double down the first base line on the very first pitch.But as the inning wore on, Nicholas Tufts utilized his speed to account for the aforementioned run on the front end of a double steal that was executed perfectly on a back end by Austen Michel, who managed to get in a rundown long enough for the run to score.The local nine then tied things up in the third on a single by co-captain Henry Eagar, who stole second and scored on a base hit by Dickey. The Hamilton-Wenham second baseman gave his teammates the lead again later in the frame, scoring on an infield error to third.But once again, North Reading tied it up in the third, which paved the way for Sanborn’s titanic blast in the fourth that cleared LeLacheur’s leftfield fence, landing close to the mammoth electronic scoreboard.Hamilton-Wenham fans knew this game was far from over after a season of thrilling wins. The Generals were confident that they had another comeback in them, and they got to work in the sixth by loading the bases. When the rally ended, they had narrowed the deficit to one after plating three runs.Reacting to the comeback, coach Reggie Maidment has nothing but praise for a team that doesn’t know the meaning of quit, especially his seniors, who have brought the program back to an elite status during their tenure on the varsity."It is what it is. They are all fighters. You have to give it them," he said.Maidment specifically singled out his starting pitcher, senior co-captain Jack Clay, who was able to escape danger with North Reading runners on base throughout the first four innings."Jack’s a gamer. He’s like Dice K out there, who works the count full, and loads the bases, but still gets out of it to keep us in the game," added Maidment.With Peter Duval taking over the mound chores in the fifth, North Reading thought it was just tacking on an insurance run in the fifth via a sacrifice fly by senior Shane Driscoll. But that was before the sixth."We have been in so many one-run games this year we had no problems being down in this one," Maidment said. "We knew we could make another comeback."Sophomore Thomas Dowd, Eagar and Dickey started the sixth inning rally off with walks to load the bases, before Tufts singled the first run home. At that time, North Reading coach Frank Carey called for reliever Scott Allan to take over for starter Ryan Boucher. Michel greeted Allen with a sacrifice fly to account for the fifth run that setup Harring’s hit.Michel pitched the sixth for Hamilton-Wenham to keep them within one, but Allan retired the side in order in the seventh to seal the deal for North Reading in the Division 3 North title game. The Hornets had since moved on to face Bellingham, the South champs, in a state sectional game June 10 after press deadline, while Maidment reflected on his program that was transformed into a state juggernaut as a result of the efforts of the 10 varsity seniors."The seniors had won two games one year, and six in another, but what they did this season will benefit the program throughout the foreseeable future, especially with all of those Little League players sitting in the stands watching us play against North Reading."We should have won [the North title]. It came down to just one hit," he added.Among those who have established a new standard of excellence for the program are seniors Tristan Smith, Benjamin MacDonald, Nicholas Loeper, Ted Hogan, Duval, Tufts, Clay, Dickey, Harring and Eagar, and their contributions will not be forgotten anytime soon.